HOPE (AP) - Landowners in Hempstead County have asked the Arkansas Public Service Commission for a rehearing on a $1.3 billion coal-fired power plant that the panel approved for construction last month.

The Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s proposed John W. Turk plant, 15 miles northeast of Texarkana, still must be approved by regulators in Louisiana and Texas. The 600-megawatt facility also needs approval from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The landowners have about 18,000 acres of private property near the plant site, including 2,000-acre Grassy Lake, home to alligators, migratory birds and some of Arkansas' last cypress swamps.

The commission, which approved the plant by a 2-1 vote, will make a decision on a rehearing by the end of the year. On Thursday the commission ordered attorneys for the landowners and SWEPCO to respond to the request for rehearing by Dec. 28 "with the intention of ruling on said motions no later than Dec. 31."

Dave Slaton, chief administrative law judge for the commission, said procedures require the landowners first ask for a rehearing if they plan to appeal the commission's order. If the landowners pursue a formal appeal, that action would be before the Arkansas Court of Appeals, he said.

The utility plans to build the plant on 2,875 acres by 2011. The company estimates the plant would create 110 full-time jobs once operating, with an estimated annual payroll of $12 million. Local officials in favor of the plant cited the boost to the local economy as a reason for their support.

Opponents argue the plant would dump more pollutants in the environment, including carbon dioxide - the chief culprit of global warming.

If approved and built, SWEPCO would own 73 percent of the plant, and is working out part-ownership deals with Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative, and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation.

SWEPCO is a Shreveport, La.-based subsidiary of American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio. It has 111,000 customers in Arkansas, and 340,000 more in Texas and Louisiana.